TikTok completes transfer of US business to joint venture: details of the deal
23 January 15:43
The Chinese-developed short video platform TikTok has announced the completion of a deal to transfer its US business to the US-based TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC. Since American companies hold a controlling stake in the venture, the service will be able to continue operating in the country.
TikTok’s press service published a statement to this effect on Friday, January 23, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
According to the press release, 45% of the joint venture’s shares are owned by three managing investors: American investment companies Oracle and Silver Lake, as well as the Emirati company MGX, each received a 15% stake. Another 35.1% went to other investors, mainly American, but also to the company of French billionaire Xavier Niel. China’s ByteDance, which developed TikTok, retained 19.9% of the joint venture’s shares.
Trump: Grateful to Xi Jinping for approving the deal
US President Donald Trump also commented on the transfer of the American business TikTok to the joint venture.
“I am so happy to have helped save TikTok! Now it will belong to a group of great American patriots and investors, the largest in the world, and will become an important voice. Along with other factors, it is thanks to it (TikTok – Ed.) that I got such good results from young people in the 2024 presidential election,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The US president also expressed his gratitude to Vice President J.D. Vance and other members of his administration who worked on the deal.
“I would also like to thank Chinese President Xi Jinping for working with us and ultimately approving the deal. He could have done otherwise, but he did not, and I am grateful to him for his decision,” Trump added.
The TikTok platform could have been blocked in the US
The platform, whose monthly audience worldwide exceeded 1.5 billion users in 2025, has been repeatedly accused of insufficient data protection. In particular, there are concerns that the Chinese authorities may be collecting information about users of the service.
Against this backdrop, Donald Trump, like his predecessor Joe Biden, sought to sell the American segment of TikTok to local businessmen. The parties reached an agreement in September 2025. Complaints about TikTok were also heard in Europe: the European Commission accused the platform of violating the rules for placing advertisements on the Internet.
